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Second injustice magnifies the first

By Sue Carlton, Times Columnist
Published February 23, 2008

No one can deny that Alan Crotzer is a wronged man.

The story of someone who spent half his life in prison for crimes he didn't commit pretty much defines injustice.

Not to mention something that should be made right in any way it can.

In 2006, Crotzer was exonerated through DNA evidence and witness accounts in the 1981 rape of a woman and a 12-year-old girl in Tampa.

Somehow, Florida has not been able to find its way to making amends since.

The second time around, the injustice came out of Tallahassee. In these sorts of cases, our Legislature has to okay anything more than $200,000 to be paid in compensation.

Crotzer, a man who wrongly spent 24 years in prison, sure sounded like a safe bet for trying to make up for the past with a chance for a future.

But even with the standing ovation he got from lawmakers, even with the heartfelt words that came from the governor, he got nothing. Last year, a bill that would have paid him $1.25-million for serving time for another man's crime did not pass. Not in the budget.

At the same time, the family of 14-year-old Panama City boot camp inmate Martin Lee Anderson was awarded nearly $5-million, which also seemed justified, particularly given the video we all saw of burly camp guards surrounding the collapsing teenager.

(In that politically charged case, some lawmakers did express concern at the time that the guards and the camp nurse had not yet been tried in criminal court. Later, some prospective jurors at the manslaughter trial said they knew about the award and the governor's involvement in the case. Of course, it's impossible to say if that played any role in the ultimate verdict of not guilty. Post-verdict, jurors weren't talking. I can only tell you that it was a sentiment you heard around Panama City at the time, that Anderson's family had its pound of flesh.)

Crotzer, now 47, has gotten work with a landscaping company. Good people have helped push his cause. Editorials have blasted the injustice of what did and then did not happen to him. Outraged folks who never met the man wrote letters to the editor.

Can shame be a motivator?

You hope finally doing the right thing might.

Now, even in the face of what looks to be a grim budget year, lawmakers are making the right noises about compensation for Crotzer in this legislative session.

They're also talking about legislation that would automatically pay some wrongly convicted people for each year they spent in prison, up to a maximum of $1.5-million - the kind of system several states already have.

Also on the table is the idea of providing some health insurance reimbursement, school tuition and housing assistance - the basic needs that can help make or break a person after he walks out of prison.

All of which makes good sense. Finally.

"Money won't ever give back what was taken from me," Alan Crotzer has said. "But it can help me start a new life."

He won't get the years, but he could get a chance.

Seems like Florida owes him at least that much.

[Last modified February 23, 2008, 00:21:52]